Creativity is a loaded topic. So many people are convinced they’re not creative. I should know because I was one of those people. I believed my parents and teachers who told me that I had no creative talent, that I couldn’t draw, paint, write creatively or dance. It wasn’t until I was 50 that I finally decided I didn’t care what they thought. I was going to try.

Walking the Labyrinth has contributed greatly to my spiritual development. I feel deeply connected to the universality of the mystical process that I engage in every time I enter the Labyrinth. As with so many of my spiritual beliefs and practices, the more I study, observe and open my heart, the more similarities I see among all of our paths.

We all grow up with fears, feelings of not being good enough and insecurities. Now add being told by your family, society and your religion that there is something innately wrong with you, that you need to be fixed, that there is no room in heaven for you and top if off with the belief that God does not love you. How do you have any good feelings about yourself? How do you make it through the day? This is the experience of most people who grew up lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer or intersex.

Self-Empowerment Tip

As you’ve noticed by now, I often include a silver lining story in my blog. When appropriate, I’m going to begin with a tip for the week from my e-book, 33 Tips for Self-empowerment. I’ve decided to do this because when you are self-empowered, you are connected to your limitless higher self, your soul.

Negative thoughts eat up our time, energy and health, not to mention our self-esteem. Research says:

90% of our self-talk is negative.
1 to 8 hours a day is spent worrying (1/16 to 1/2 of our waking hours).
Most heart attacks occur Sunday night due to worry about returning to work.
Yet, only 8% of what we worry about actually happens. If you can do something to prevent an unpleasant outcome, do it. If there's nothing you can do, visualize, think, draw or say the outcome you want. At the very least, you will shift your mood.

What follows is extremely valuable information on how we can make 2016 a spectacular year for ourselves and at the same time decrease destructive influences in the world, like violence and global warming. If enough of us do this, we can even help to create world peace. All we have to do is spend a few minutes each day doing the exercises described below. Invite others to do this to add even more positive energy to the world. The more of us who do this, the better it is for all of us.